26 acres up for lease on Memorial Drive in Chicopee

CHICOPEE - St. Stanislaus Church is actively trying to find someone to lease about 26 acres it owns on Memorial Drive.

The land is part of the church's 125-acre cemetery, which runs from Montgomery Street to Memorial Drive and over to Pendleton Avenue. Colebrook Realty Services Inc., of Springfield, is marketing the property.

"We're hoping for a long-term lease for the property," the Rev. Michael Zielke, pastor of St. Stanislaus, said. "We don't want to sell it in case the parish needs cemetery land in the future."

Developers have been interested in the land over the years, City Planner Kate L. Brown said.

"This conversation has been ongoing for a long time. Developers have been eyeing that property for years," Brown said. "It's the last potentially large parcel we have left on the drive."

The cemetery is about a quarter full, Zielke said. A church report in 2000 noted the cemetery would have space for the next 250 years. The first burial in the cemetery took place in 1924.

"With the way cremations are increasing, we said let's put that land to use," Zielke said. "We've been studying this issue for the past four years."

The church's Finance Council recommended the church try to lease the land, which belongs to the church and not the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield. The diocese does provide real estate services to its parishes, but any money raised would remain with the parish, said Mark E. Dupont, diocesan spokesman.

Money earned from the lease would go to support St. Stanislaus School and the church's confraternity of Christian doctrine programs, Zielke said.

The sign seeking a developer to lease the land went up on Memorial Drive about two weeks ago. Zielke said it is early in the process and there were no numbers available on how much a lease could earn the church. Colebrook Realty Services Inc. would not comment.

The land is zoned Residential A for single-family use only. If a developer leased the land and wanted to build retail or office space, a zone change would be needed. Brown said she has received a few calls from people who are curious about the parcel and the zoning process.

"The city is so underserved in regards to retail. Some kind of combination of shopping, office and maybe housing along the Pendleton side would probably be the best concept," Brown said. "I would expect they'd do a 99-year lease. It's not unusual for that magnitude of a site."

Zielke said he's heard other ideas on how to utilize the land.

"People are saying there's a need for senior residences. That would be a good use," he said. "It's a good piece of land. We see it as such a valuable asset for the city."